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Biography

Matthew Rendall is Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, and holds a PhD in Political Science from Columbia University. His earlier research focused on large-scale war and peace, including such topics as nuclear deterrence, whether there is a 'separate peace' among democracies, and collective security. This work often tested theories of war and peace through historical case studies, often drawing on original historical research. More recently he has also been writing about intergenerational justice, climate change and various topics in moral philosophy.

Expertise Summary

Teaching Summary

This autumn,I'm teaching an MA seminar called 'When Does Russia Expand, and Why?' In the spring I'll teach a third-year module on the ethics of climate change. I'm also teaching on the second-year… read more

Research Summary

At present, I'm working on a paper, 'Realism and Rational Choice', arguing that in representative democracies, egoists have no rational incentive to vote, but that there are good moral reasons for… read more

Kunal Mukherjee, 'From Pakistan to Londonistan: The Rise of a Home Grown Islamic Militancy in the UK'

This autumn,I'm teaching an MA seminar called 'When Does Russia Expand, and Why?' In the spring I'll teach a third-year module on the ethics of climate change. I'm also teaching on the second-year modules Social and Global Justice and Democracy and Its Critics.

Current Research

At present, I'm working on a paper, 'Realism and Rational Choice', arguing that in representative democracies, egoists have no rational incentive to vote, but that there are good moral reasons for voting. This creates a puzzle for classical realism. Realists since Thucydides have held that states won't let morality get in the way of self-interest. But why would citizens driven by self-interest bother to vote at all? If representative democracies pursue consciously egoistic foreign policies, either voters must be irrational or democratic institutions must be defective.

Past Research

My dissertation evaluated competing explanations for the long European peace after 1815 through an analysis of Russia's Near Eastern policy, drawing on extensive research in Moscow's archives. I remain interested in the Concert of Europe and Russian foreign policy. ''Defensive realism and the Concert of Europe', appearing in The Review of International Studies in 2006, attacks John Mearsheimer's The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, arguing that defensive realism gives a better account of the long peace after 1815. I have also written about the Belgian crisis of 1830-32 and the Anglo-French crisis of 1840, and their implications for collective security and democratic peace theory.

Future Research

I have two books in mind: one on intergenerational justice, catastrophic risks, and consequentialist moral philosophy, and the other on the security dilemma and the outbreak of the Crimean War.